The Mississippi State men’s and women’s cross country squads begin their season Saturday at the Sewanee Invitational.
The meet will be held at the Sewanee Golf Course in Sewanee, Tenn. The women’s race begins at 10 a.m. and the men’s race begins immediately after with the teams racing against 15 other teams.
With the meet being the first of the season, men’s cross country coach Steve Dudley said he expects his squad to start the year well.
“Our main objective for the meet is to win,” Dudley said. “We want to win every meet, and this one is no exception.”
A win in the 8K race is not out of the question for Saturday’s meet.
Senior runner Ashenafi Arega finished second as a junior in the 8K run at the Sewanee Invitational during the 2006 season.
The men’s team also returns two others who did well in last season’s opening meet.
Senior Pad Judd finished in fifth place in the 8K run and sophomore runner Daniel Simpkins finished ninth in the run, which was his debut race.
On the women’s side, cross country coach Al Schmidt hopes to use the first meet as a building block for success for the rest of the season.
“Each race at the beginning of the season is a build-up to other races in the season,” Schmidt said. “It’s very important to gain confidence early. Early meets help build the team concept [of cross country].”
The team concept is important to the team as it views the big picture.
“Our focus is on the SEC regionals later in the season,” Schmidt said.
All of the training and preparation for this season is with SEC regionals in mind, but it all starts with the Sewanee Invitational.
The first meet of the season also helps the freshmen runners become acclimated to the collegiate cross country environment.
Schmidt said he has high hopes for his freshmen.
“Cross country programs need to rely on them, and I think we have freshmen that we can rely on this season,” he said.
The top three freshmen this season on the women’s side are Simone Domingue of Lafayette, La., Emily Crow of Tupelo and Sarah Hammes of Meridian.
“Our top three freshmen are of the caliber that we can rely on,” Schmidt said.
The freshmen, as well as the upperclassmen, have an opportunity to start the season with a win Saturday.
The squads have performed well in their opening meets during the previous two seasons, including last season when the men’s and women’s teams each won their respective titles at the Sewanee Invitational.